I've written a lot about giving back over the years. I love ideas that are creative and a win-win. Well, my good buddy, Joe Farace, is launching his holiday program and it's a win-win for everybody. Of course what would you expect from a guy with a blog whose tagline is, "Saving the world one pixel at a time!"

Joe's doing portfolio reviews for charity. Here's your chance to have your portfolio reviewed by one of the industry's leading photographers and writers and 100% of the fee goes to charity.

I love the concept for a couple of reasons. First, if you know Joe then you know he's got a big heart and giving back is part of how he lives his life. Second, I've looked at a lot of images over this past year, and so many of you have incredible talent, but you haven't paid attention to what you're presenting. A great portfolio is more than just images - it's a story of who you are and your skill set. Third, there isn't a non-profit on the planet that doesn't need help.

Here's one more reason I love the concept. While Joe can only do these face to face in the Denver/Colorado Springs area, I'm hoping helping him spread the word will get a few of you to think about doing something similar. For those of you who are educators, here's a great way to help photographers and give back, but there's another way to use the concept.

​Many of you live in areas with strong camera clubs and lots of serious hobbyists. What a kick it would be to offer your community help with their photography. As a professional, you might not be formally teaching, but you have the ability to help serious consumers with ideas on capturing better images this holiday season. Here's a chance for you to give back and position yourself as one of the community's photography experts.

Still doubting your ability and how this might work? Think about so many things you take for granted in understanding - depth of field, composition, exposure, fill light, posing and even basic image manipulation for printing holiday cards, etc. Even better, it doesn't matter what they're shooting with, from cell phones to point and shoots to DSLRs - all the basic rules apply.

Check out Joe's program by clicking on either image above and then email me to let me know what you're doing in your community to give back this holiday season. I'd love to do a blog post of ideas to help other artists get more involved in giving back. Send me a short description of what you're doing along with your URL and an image or two (5x7 equivalent at 72 dpi).

And Joe - thanks for sharing the idea and especially giving back. While this project is focused on the Denver area, you give back to all of us all year long!

"Why?"

Check out"Why?" one of the most popular features on the SCU Blog.It's a very simple concept - one image, one artist and one short sound bite. Each artist shares what makes the image one of their most favorite. We're coming up on 100 artists featured since the project started. Click on the link above and you can scroll through all of the episodes to date.

Authors

Skip Cohen is President of SCU, founder of Marketing Essentials International and past president of Rangefinder Publishing and WPPI. He's been an active participant in the photographic industry since joining Hasselblad USA in 1987 as president. He has co-authored six books on photography and actively supports dozens of projects each year involving photographic education.

Scott Bourne

Scott Bourne was the first Dean of Marketing at SCU. He helped to establish this blog as a resource for aspiring and working professional photographers. He's an educator, artist, author and from time to time you'll see his name on guest posts that are always relevant to photography and marketing!